Pen feeding machine



Aug. 22, 1939. P. MEIER PEN FEEDING MACHINE Filed Aug. 22, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 1' INVENTOR FAULMEIER TTO RNEY Aug. 22, 1939. P. MEIER PEN FEEDING MACHINE Filed Aug. 22, 1936' 4 Sheets-Shet 2 INVENTOR PA UL NYE/ER WTTORNE" I Aug. 22, 1939. P ME|ER PEN FEEDING MACHINE Filed Aug. 22, 1936 4 sheets-sheet s INVENTOR EPA uL. MEIER TTORNEY Aug. 22, 1939. P. MEIER PEN FEEDING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 22, 1936 INVENTOR PAUL. ME'IER A FORNEY Patented Aug. 22, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to mechanisms for feeding unfinished pens and the like to machines where they will be acted upon to further their state of completion. More particularly, the invention deals with automatic means for feeding promiscuously strewn pens in a hopper o-r tray to a pen slitter in proper relational position and consecutively in synchronization with said slitter.

The efficiency of a pen slitter depends upon the feeding thereinto of properly positioned and aligned pens. In the usual type of slitter the pens must be presented nib forward and with the pen resting upon its longitudinal edges. Heretofore, the feeding of pens in. this manner, to a slitter, was usually accomplished by hand. While this insured accurate feeding, the operation was necessarily slow, uneconomical, and tedious. The problems involved in an automatic feed of this type have either deterred attempts to provide a mechanism as herein contemplated, or have prevented the realization of such a mechanism when the design thereof was attempted.

In order to provide an efficient and economical device for feeding pens to a slitter. the invention seeks to provide a preferably unitary mechanism having means for successively advancing the pens from a promiscuously strewn batch to either the mentioned relationally proper position preparatory to entering the slitter, or to a rejection batch.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a mechanism for conveying pens to means for depositing them upon a conveyor where they may be acted on. as they pass along, by various devices which seek to align the pens, and to separate two or more which may have become nested.

The invention further contemplates the provision of means for rejecting a pen. which has not been properly aligned and which is not ready to be properly positioned for entrance to the slitter. V

The invention further seeks to provide mechanism for advancing properly aligned pens which have their nibs pointed in either direction, to a position wherein all the pens have their nibs pointed in the same direction.

In its broadest aspect, therefore, the invention seeks to provide automatic means for bringing a pen from a batch thereof to a slitter, with said pen arranged in proper position for entrance into said slitter.

One manner of realizing the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, while illustrating a preferred device, are intended as exemplary only. The following specification is based on these drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a mechanism as contemplated in this invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the means for depositing pens upon a conveyor and some of the means for aligning said pens.

Fig. 4 is a similar view, forming a continuation of Figure 3, of other means for aligning said pens and of means for further advancing them to a position from which they are introduced into a slitter.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view, partly broken, of the mentioned advancing means.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail sectional View of means for removing pens from a hopper or tray.

Fig. '7 is a transverse sectional view as taken on. the line 'l-'l of Figure 6.

Fig. 8 is a wiring diagram of the electrical devices of the contemplated mechanism.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, the mechanism may be arranged upon a base I0 which supports a bracket I l carrying a hopper: or tray l2 into which is promiscuously placed a batch of unslitted pens. The bottom l3 of the tray is preferably slightly inclined as shown so that vibration thereof will cause the pens in the tray to creep towards the elevator l4.

The above-mentioned vibratory action is accomplished through the medium of a lever l5, one end l6 of which is arranged to tap the bottom I3 of the tray and the other end I! of which is engaged with a spring pressed slide l8 having a tail portion I9 in ratchet engagement with the teeth of a co'gwheel 20 on the rotating shaft 2|. In this manner rotation of the shaft 2| will cause 7 reciprocatory movement of the slide IS, a. rocking of the lever I5, and hence a repetitious tapping by the end It on the tray bottom.

The elevator I4 is designed to lift a pen, which finds its position on the top edge thereof, from the level of the tray bottom to a point above a wall 22 whence the pen will fall from the elevator onto the chute 23 due to the sharp slope provided on said top edge. However, before the pens can assume a position upon the elevator, they must pass by the oscillating arm 24 which is moved around its pivot 25 by a member 26 connected at 21 with the elevator l4 and by a counterweight 28, the member 26 moving the arm 24 in one direction and the counterweight acting to move it in the other direction. The arm 24 thus acts to position the pens, as they creep by, in;

parallel alignment with the elevator to insure their proper positioning thereon.

The pens which fall onto the chute, slide into the hollow of the drum 29 which is continuously rotating in a clockwise direction. This drum is provided, as shown, with a plurality of parallel slits 30 on the peripheral face portion thereof, each slit being formed by an edge of said face portion and an edge of an inreaching flange or vane It! struck from the face portion so that, as the drum revolves, the edges 3! seek to carry the pens upward in the direction of rotation of the drum. Should the pen be positioned as shown at a (Fig. 3), it will eventually fall back to the bottom of the drum to be again carried upward. However, should the pen be positioned as shown at b, its edge, adjacent the slot 30 as it is being carried upward, will slip through the slit and fall upon an endless conveyor belt 32 by which it is moved towards the right.

As can be understood, the tumbling of the pens in the drum tends to separate nested pens and also affords a certain approximately uniform spacing between pens falling therefrom.

To insure that pens falling from the drum do not inadvertently miss the conveyor belt, a shield such as shown at 33 may be employed.

While the action of the drum tends to cause the pens to fall singly onto the conveyor and in transverse relation to the movement thereof, this result is not always accomplished and besides, when the pens fall they may come to rest upon the belt upon their curved face or crown or upon the parallel edges.

In order to insure that only single pens resting on their parallel edges and positioned transverse to the belt arrive at the end of the conveyor run, the means shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4 are employed.

The first of these, shown at 34, comprises a swinging vane serving to engage a pen which may be disposed at an angle to the conveyor belt and to align said pen into the desired transverse relation.

As the pen is moved along by the conveyor it encounters the swing vanes 35 which are spaced apart as shown in Fig. 2, and are each formed with a hook 3S spaced from the conveyor a distance slightly greater than the height of a pen. Thus a single pen may pass by without contact by these vanes. However, should two nested pens, such as shown in Figure 3 encounter these hooks, the upper one, at its nib will be engaged by one of the hooks and lifted from the lower pen. In this simple manner, the nested pens become separated.

If the vanes 35 should fail to perform their function, the next vane 37 is designed to have its lower edge engage one of the parallel edges of the upper of two nested pens to lift said upper pen from the lower as the conveyor moves by. In any event, this vane also acts in a manner similar to the vane 34 to align the pens after action by the vanes 35.

During the preceding function of the vanes 35 and 3'1, some of the pens come to rest 'upon their curved surface. should rest upon their parallel edges. For the purpose of inverting a pen in the former condition, the vanes 33 and 39 are provided, each having a hooked portion 66 designed to rock the pens as the conveyor carries them by,

In order to prevent undue swinging of the vanes, they may each be provided with adjustable means such as the elements il which serve It is desired that they to counteract the pendulum action of the vanes which are mounted to swing freely on rods 42 adjustably held as by means 43. The number and form of the vanes may be varied, and their position in relation to the conveyor may be accurately adjusted as clearly shown in the drawings.

In order to more surely carry out the abovementioned functions, the conveyor belt is preferably formed of some relatively rough material such as woven canvas so as to minimize the sliding of the pens as they engage the vanes.

While it is apparent that only single pens resting upon their parallel edges should ultimately arrive at the end of the conveyor 32, it is also conceivable that for various reasons two pens may remain nested despite the action of the vanes, or a pen may find its way to this point resting on its crown.

In order to reject such improperly positioned pens, a plate 44, pivoted at 45 is arranged to overstand the end of the conveyor, a space 4 slightly greater than the height of a. pen being provided between said plate and said conveyor. Normally, a pen may pass through said space without rocking the plate i l, but should nested pens pass through, the plate will be lifted to rock its pivot 15. This ivot, bracketed at ll, carries a relatively long arm 68 having a pin 49 engaged in a slot 56 of one arm 5! of a bell crank lever pivoted at 52. The other arm 53 of said bellcrank is arranged with rolls 54 normally in contact with a dielectric portion 55, but upon lifting of the plate 44, the arm 58 is swung to the right, and through the mentioned pin and slot connection, the arm 53 is swung upwardly so the rolls 54 come in contact with the sector 56.

In this event, an electric circuit is established through a solenoid 5? which becomes energized to attract the armature 58 and to rock said armature about its pivot 58. This causes a raising of the lever 69 fixed with the armature so that its end 6! engages the bottom of a plate 62 pivoted at 63 and having an edge 65 positioned in contact with and directly beneath the free end of the plate M.

The edge 64 will thus be moved into contact with the conveyor so that pens which normally would pass between said edge and said conveyor,

will now be directed onto the top of the plate 62 tion of the pivot 63 is arranged to be adjusted as by means of the pivoted plate 66 carrying said pivot 63, and the screw adjusting means 61.

The arm 48 may also be varied in its effective length so proper adjustment may be had in the movement of the plate 44. This means is shown at 68 affording a delayed transmission of movement from the arm 46 to the bellcrank 51, 53. This bellcrank may also be counterweighted as at 69.

The action of the above described parts is similar when a pen resting on its crown comes against the edge 64 of the plate 62. As the belt 32 attempts to carry the pen past this point, one edge being engaged against the edge 64, the pen will rock on its crown so said edge will lift the plate 44. The solenoid then performs its function to depress the edge 64, and the pen is deposited upon the plate 62 to fall therefrom to a rejection receptacle as heretofore described.

Those pens which do find their way through the passage 46, slide down an inclined wall I0 and come to rest against the free edges II, of light spring members 12. The wall 10 is provided with a spaced cover portion I3 to provide a chute I4 somewhat higher than the height of a pen and somewhat wider than the length of a pen.

Above the point where a pen is supported by the springs 12, there is arranged a rotating shaft 15. A pair of fingers I6 are arranged in slots in said shaft 15 and are fixedly mounted on a pintle 15a which, together with the fingers is tensioned as by means of the torsional spring 11. Thus the shaft I5 yieldingly carries the fingers to engage a pen in the above position and to force said pen past the edges II of the light springs into the interior of the chute 14, the tension of the spring I! being greater than the resistance of the light springs II. As this occurs, one of the two spaced pins I8 will engage that portion of the pen which is opposite the nib and the nib will pass over the other pin so that the pen will be turned to fall down the chute nib first as shown in Fig. 5. It is immaterial which way the nibis directed when it enters the chute 14, since in either case the tail of the pen will be retarded by one of the pins I8, the pen fulcruming around said pin so it falls nib first through the chute,

as guided by the walls I9, onto a conveyor belt 80.

To prevent the pen from inadvertently jumping from said belt as it falls thereon, an overstanding guard member BI is provided and in addition, the conveyor belt 80 may be provided with a keeper plate 82 to hold the pens thereon in position.

At the discharge end of the belt 80, there is provided a reciprocatory slide 83 which may be connected as by means 84 with a moving portion of a pen slitter (not shown). This slide 83 is arranged to move across the top of the belt 80 so that a pen positioned against the wall 85 is ejected by the slide 83 through an opening 86 and thence into the slitter.

Should the pens become too numerous on the conveyor 80, the wall 85 is arranged to be lifted so some of the pens may be removed. This prevents clogging of the conveyor 80 beyond the capacity of the slitter.

The mechanism above described may be driven by a-motor 81 having a pulley 88 belted as at 89 to a pulley 90 on the shaft 9|. Upon the shaft 9| there is provided a pulley 92 having a belt 93 for driving the pulley 94 on the shaft 95. This shaft 95 is connected to a pulley 96 around which one bight of the conveyor belt 32 is trained, said belt being driven in this manner. The other bight of the belt 32 is trained around at pulley 91 which is mounted, as shown, to take up slack in said belt.

The shaft BI is also provided with a pulley 98, which through a belt 99 drives a pulley Illli fixed with the shaft I5.

In the present machine, the motor 8'! is also arranged to drive a counter-shaft IQI as by means of the pulleys I92 and IE3, and the belt I04 therebetween. This counter-shaft has a pulley I05 connected by belt I136 to a pulley I61 on the shaft 2| which operates the previously mentioned vibrator.

Also carried on the shaft IOI, is a sprocket Wheel I08 having a chain connection I09 with a sprocket wheel III) on the shaft III. Upon this shaft is mounted a crank arm II2 having connection through the pitman H3 with the elevator I4 which is reciprocated thereby.

And finally, a driving connection is effected between the shaft III and the conveyor belt 80 by means of the pulleys IM and H5, belt IIB, bevel gearing Ill, and shaft H8 connected to one of the conveyor belt pulleys.

The machine may be started by means of a switch H9 which serves to start the motor 81 and the solenoid circuit remains open at all times until an improperly positioned pen or pens in the space 49 is to be ejected.

Although I have described my improvements with considerable detail and with respect to a certain particular form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to such details since many changes and modifications in the form, arrangements, proportions, and sizes thereof, may well be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention in its broadest aspect.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a pen feeding device a chute, said chute being of a width slightly greater than the length of a pen, means for depositing a pen into said chute, a pair of spaced pins projecting from the bottom of said chute, and means for directing a pen broadside to said pins with its crown uppermost so that the tail of the pen engages one of the pins to cause the nib of the pen to travel foremost during the remainder of the passage of the pen through the chute.

2. In a pen feeding device, a chute, resilient means depending from the top of the chute for aligning the pen with its aXis in a transverse direction to its path of motion and for arresting the progress of a pen through said chute, means for forcing said pen past said resilient means, means for intercepting the tail of the pen to cause it to turn with its nib foremost and means for guiding said pen nib foremost during the remainder of its passage through said chute.

3. In a pen feeding device, a chute, said chute being of a Width slightly greater than the length of a pen, a pair of spaced pins projecting from the bottom of said chute, resilient means depending from the top of the chute for arresting the progress of a pen through said chute before it reaches the pins, a rotating shaft mounted above and transversely of the chute, said shaft carrying fingers for forcing the pen past said resilient means and broadside to said pins so that the tail of the pen engages one of the pins to cause the nib of the pen to travel foremost during the remainder of the passage of the pen through the chute.

4. In a pen feeding device, an inclined chute, said chute being of a width slightly greater than the lengthy of a pen, resilient means depending from the top of the chute for arranging the pen with its axis transverse to its direction of movement and for arresting the progress of a pen through said chute, a rotating shaft mounted above and transversely of the chute, said shaft carrying fingers to: force the pen past the resilient means and pins in the path of said pen to retard the tail thereof for directing the pen nibforemost during the remainder of its passage through said chute.

PAUL MEIER. 

